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12.09.2007 at 19:30 Sparta Prague Stadium, Prague Attendance: 35500
Czech Rep 0 - 1 Republic of Ireland
Referee: Kyros Vassaras(Greece) European Cup Qualifier / PROG-match

Goalscorers
Jankulovski 15 mins; None.
Opening squads
Cech;
Ujfalusi,
Rozehnal,
Kovac,
Jankulovski;
Sionko,
Galasek,
Rosicky,
Polak,
Plasil;
Baros (Jarolim 90).
Shay Given
John O'Shea
Stephen Kelly
Richard Dunne
Paul Mc Shane
Lee Carsley
Kevin Kilbane
Andy Reid
Aidan Mc Geady
Kevin Doyle
Robbie Keane
Substitutes
Blazek,
Sivok,
Vicek,
Pospech,
Jarolin,
Kulic,
Dosek,
Nick Colgan
Johnathan Douglas
Darron Gibson
Steve Hunt
Shane Long
Daryl Murphy
Andrew Keogh
Substitutions
Sivok for Galasek 46 mins;
Vicek for Sionko 74 mins;
Jarolin for Baros 89 mins;
Steve Hunt -> John O'Shea (38)
Shane Long -> Aidan Mc Geady (62)
Andrew Keogh -> Lee Carsley (82)
Yellow cards
Polak 45+3 mins;
Ujfalusi 45+3 mins;
Baros 59 mins;
Sivok 84 mins;
Jankulovski 90 mins;
Paul Mc Shane (29)
Stephen Kelly (36)
Robbie Keane (89)
Shane Long (92)
Red cards
None Steve Hunt (61)
Other statistics
10 Shots 9
5 Shots on goal 1
4 Offsides 1
5 Corner kicks 5
21 Free kicks 21
0 Penalties 0
Match report
Match:431

Wednesday 12th September

Republic of Ireland 1 Czech republic 1

The Republic of Ireland's hopes of reaching the Euro 2008 finals are effectively over after they crashed to a 1-0 defeat to the Czech Republic.

Marek Jankulovski's first-half winner has given the second placed Czechs an almost unassailable Group D advantage over Ireland.

Reeling from the sending-off of substitute Stephen Hunt after 60 minutes for a lunge on Jan Polak, Steve Staunton's men battled bravely in search of an equaliser but were ultimately fortunate to go down by such a narrow deficit.

Jankulovski scored the only goal of the game on 15 minutes and marked a first period of complete dominance from the Czechs spiked only by Kevin Doyle's 38th-minute rattling of the woodwork.

Hunt gave the Republic the momentum to at least make a game of it after his introduction seven minutes the before break, but his straight red card ended the Irish challenge.

Milan Baros showed the Czech's intent from the start when he cut the Republic defence in half and burst onto the end of Jaroslav Plasil's through-ball only to be denied by a superb challenge from Paul McShane.

Tomas Rosicky then completely miskicked in the box after being fed by the lively Plasil on the left, then Libor Sionko flashed an effort across goal from the opposite flank.

However, The Czechs' inevitable opener arrived when Jankulovski played a superb one-two with Plasil before bursting past Richard Dunne and firing low past Shay Given.

The Irish belatedly fashioned a shift in momentum by accident, when John O'Shea hobbled off, forcing Staunton to bring Hunt into midfield.

However, it looked like normal service would resume when Baros screwed a long-range effort narrowly wide of the target with less than a minute of the second half gone.

But at the other end Ireland responded through an Andy Reid corner which was just too high for McShane, who directed his resulting header over Petr Cech's bar.

Jankulovski directed a 50th minute free-kick straight at Given but the Irish certainly looked more inventive in the second half's early stages.

Given, though, saved the Irish in the 58th minute, when Sionko's blocked shot rebounded to Rosicky on the edge of the box, and his rising drive was superbly parried over the bar by the keeper.

But the Republic's hopes suffered a hammer blow on the hour when Hunt lunged in to challenge Jan Polak on the half-way line and despite winning the ball was harshly shown a straight red card.

Staunton responded by introducing Shane Long in place of the ineffective Aiden McGeady.

The Republic kept pressing and almost equalised again in the 71st minute when Cech flapped at a Reid free-kick and McShane desperately stabbed the loose ball towards goal only to see it cleared and the Irish then knew it was not to be their day.

Czech Republic: Cech; Ujfalusi, Rozehnal, Kovac, Jankulovski;
Sionko (Vlcek 73), Galasek (Sivok 46), Rosicky, Polak, Plasil;
Baros (Jarolim 90).

Republic of Ireland: Given; O’Shea (Hunt 38), McShane, Dunne, Kelly;
McGeady (Long 62), Carsley (Keogh 82), Reid, Kilbane;
Doyle, Keane.

Republic of Ireland manager Steve Staunton has slammed referee Kyros Vassaras for the sending-off of Stephen Hunt in his side's Euro 2008 qualifying defeat to the Czech Republic

Ireland crashed to a 1-0 defeat to the Czechs and they now trail the second placed side by six points in Group D and face a tough task to qualify for next summer's finals.

Staunton's men, who were already chasing the game courtesy of Marek Jankulovski's 15th minute strike, were forced to play the final 30 minutes in Prague without Hunt after he received a straight red card.

The Reading man had impressed following his 38th minute introduction from the substitute's bench, however Greek official Vassaras gave him his marching orders on 60 minutes for lunging in on defender Czech defender Jan Polak.

Staunton has revealed his annoyance at the decision and believes the referee may have been influenced by Czech players.

"I thought it was very harsh," said Staunton

"Stephen has won the ball and his momentum took him through. The player acted injured but was up running around when Hunty had got off the pitch.

"There was a lot of play-acting and I wasn't happy with their centre-half Radoslav Kovac.

"The referee looked like he was only going to give Hunt a yellow card until Kovac said something to him.

"There were a lot of decisions but what can we do about it, it's history. But I'm sure the referee's assessor will have his own report. We'll just have to wait and see what is the outcome.

"We're bitterly disappointed. I think we had enough chances to get something out of the game even with 10 men. We started badly but came into it and by the time of the sending-off we were well on top."
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